01How it works

Bidding runs as normal. In the first round each player may order up the turned card or pass. If all four pass, the card is turned face down and the second round begins with the player to the dealer’s left.

In the second round each player may name any suit except the one turned down. Under stick the dealer, when the first three players pass, the dealer has no pass option: the dealer must choose trump from the three remaining suits.

Without the rule, four passes in the second round throw the hand in and the deal moves on. With it, every deal produces a hand.

02Why tables use it

It keeps the game moving. Redeals are dead time, and tables that allow them see players pass marginal hands hoping for a better deal.

It also changes everyone’s bidding. Knowing the dealer will be forced to call, the dealer’s opponents can pass weak hands with confidence in the second round, and the dealer’s partner can pass a borderline hand knowing the dealer must choose.

03How to call when you are stuck

Pick the suit where you hold the most trump, counting the left bower. With a tie, prefer the suit with a bower, then the suit whose off-colour aces you also hold.

Expect to be euchred more often than on a free call. Stuck calls come from hands the dealer did not want to call, against opponents who have already shown they hold nothing worth calling. That last point is the dealer’s consolation: three passes say the strength is spread thin.

04Questions

What does stick the dealer mean in euchre?
If all four players pass in both rounds of bidding, the dealer must name trump instead of passing and throwing the hand in.
Is screw the dealer the same rule?
Yes. Screw the dealer and stick the dealer are two names for the same rule.
Can the stuck dealer name the suit that was turned down?
No. As in any second-round call, the turned-down suit is out; the dealer chooses from the other three.

05Related rules